The disclosure relates to creating, combining, and sharing video files derived from streaming or broadcast video content or recorded video content previously streamed or broadcast. More particularly, the methods and systems described herein relate to creating time-constrained video files, and using them to build, edit and arrange sequences of time-constrained video files, using either a single device capable of playing videos or multiple synced devices.
Video sharing is a popular activity, particularly on the Internet, where thousands or even millions of users can share a particularly interesting or humorous video. Creating videos is difficult however, requiring technical skills beyond the reach of the typical user to produce a polished product. There is also an asymmetry between the number of users interested in creating videos and the much larger number interested in viewing videos. Moreover, users interested in viewing videos have no easy way to be active participants in the editing and manipulation of videos, especially between people in remote locations communicating via the Internet. Consumers of a video over the Internet may approve, verbally comment on, and share the individual video, but they have no way to quickly and easily alter or add to the content of the video itself. There remains a need for a truly social, consumer-friendly way to create, modify, and share videos.